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Red Sox rolling with nine straight World Series wins

Red Sox rolling with nine straight World Series wins

10/23/13: Ryan Dempster strikes out Matt Adams to end Game 1 and give the Red Sox a 1-0 series lead

By Barry M. Bloom
/
MLB.com |

BOSTON -- The Boston Red Sox are on their way to a little bit of history.

Their nine-game World Series winning streak is tied with the Reds of 1975-76 and 1990 for the fourth best behind great Yankees teams of distinctly different eras. The Bombers hold the top three. The Red Sox haven't lost a World Series game at Fenway Park since Game 4 of the 1986 Fall Classic against the Mets.

They won Game 5 here that year, but lost the next two at Shea Stadium, including Game 6 when Mookie Wilson's grounder rolled between the legs of first baseman Bill Buckner for a stunning 10-inning collapse that is considered one of the most notorious losses in Red Sox history.

But that was then and this is now.

The Red Sox didn't get back to the World Series until 2004. Down three games to none against the Yankees in that American League Championship Series, they won eight in a row, including a sweep of the Cards in the World Series. That lifted the Curse of the Bambino, the Curse of Buckner and the Curse of Bucky Dent, whose homer helped the Yanks win a one-game playoff here in 1978 to capture the AL East title.

Streaking Sox

Longest World Series winning streaks

Team

Streak

Years

Yankees

14

1996, 1998-2000

Yankees

12

1927-28, '32

Yankees

10

1937-39, '41

Red Sox

9

2004, '07, '13

Reds

9

1975-76, '90

Giants

8

1921-23

Yankees

7

1949-50

Giants

6

2010, '12

Dodgers

6

1981, '88

Yankees

6

1978, '81

Cubs

6

1907-08

In 2007, the Red Sox were down 3-1 to the Indians in the ALCS and won seven in a row, including the final four against the Rockies in the World Series. Add Wednesday night's 8-1 drubbing of the Red Birds and that gives Boston nine wins in a row.

Sense a pattern here?

"I guess it says that our guys, regardless of who is on the roster, were more than prepared to play," said John Farrell, the Red Sox pitching coach back then and their first-year manager now. "Our guys seemingly in this setting, through the nine games you made reference to, have gone out and executed consistently, particularly on the mound. And that was the case [with Jon Lester's win] tonight."

David Ortiz, who hit a two-run homer Wednesday night and was robbed of a grand slam, is the one constant. He's the Boston player who has been there for all nine games. Terry Francona was the manager in 2004 and '07.

The Yankees of manager Joe Torre, Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Jorge Posada and Bernie Williams among a cast of star players hold the record of 14 World Series victories in a row from 1996 to 2000.

The streak began in '96 after they went down 2-0 to the Braves. They went on to win four in a row to take that World Series, swept the Padres in '98 and the Braves again in '99, before winning the first two games of the 2000 Subway World Series over the Mets. In that one, the Yanks lost Game 3 at Shea and then won Games 4 and 5.

The Yanks won four World Series titles in five years, winning 16 out of the last 17 games across those four Classics.